ENTRY STRATEGIES AND SUBSEQUENT FOREIGN EXPANSION PATH.

FDI research has so far focused on firms' initial investment decisions into a foreign market, paying little attention to subsequent FDI expansion activities. This paper attempts to relate a firm's first entry strategies into a foreign market with its subsequent FDI expansion path in that market. Specifically, we look at the impacts of the timing, equity ownership, and the size of first entries on the probability and speed of making subsequent investments. A sample of Japanese investments in China seems to suggest two alternative paths of expansion: early entry with incremental growth or late entry but with fast expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]